Workbench

10/16/2007

It's Not Just That They Sell Out. It's That They Sell Out So Cheaply.

Representative David Wu, Democrat from Oregon, wanted to do something nice for the troops, and something nice for a campaign contributor at the same time. So he used a couple of million taxpayer dollars to buy t-shirts for Marines. The Marines can't use the 100% polyester t-shirts, however, because they melt under fire, causing terrible burns.

Wu told The Oregonian on Sunday that he is "horrified" the Marines had to ban the polyester T-shirts in battle because of the danger they pose...Wu said he is "also horrified by the implication that there's a connection" between the defense budget appropriation and campaign contributions to him...His campaign received $6,100 in donations in a single day from executives of InSport and its owner, Vital Apparel. The day after the bill passed on Sept. 29, 2006, one executive gave Wu an additional $750. Two others followed with identical donations within three weeks.

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I was under the impression that military contracts included with specs for materials. Did the Marines order the shirts and figure it out later? That said, getting a gov't contract for your district is business as usual, accepting quid pro quo donations is pure sleaze. I hope Democrats are not trying to become the "discount congressman party."

What? A Democrat involved in apparently shady practices? It can't be! Queen Nancy said that this would be "the most ethical Congress EH-VAR!"

Not to mention their little trick this August, when the Democrats, in violation of all Congressional rules, changed their votes on a Republican-sponsored bill that had already been voted on and passed. The presiding officer talked over the clerk who was trying to announce the results, the Democrats revoted, and somehow, the bill failed. Queen Nancy said of the fiasco, "there was no mistake made."

Read about their shameful, dishonest, and disgusting behavior here
http://www.willisms.com/archives/2007/08/quotational_the_139.html
and here
http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110010430